Cooling device for continuous casting machines

ABSTRACT

Cooling device for continuous casting machines of the type having a casting wheel provided with a peripheral groove covered along an arc of its periphery by a metallic tape. Arcuate manifolds are arranged near the periphery of the casting wheel and extend parallel thereto. A plurality of independently controllable nozzles are associated with the manifolds and direct their cooling water jets against the metallic tape and the periphery of the casting wheel. A plurality of valve means is arranged between the manifold and the nozzles for individually controlling these nozzles.

United States Patent Properzi [45] Nov. 4, 1975 [54] COOLING DEVICE FOR CONTINUOUS 3,471,091 10/1969 Baker 239/587 X C S MACHINES 3,529,658 9/1970 Properzi 164/278 3,596,702 8/1971 Ward et al. 164/87 Inventor: f giigg via Cossa 1, Milan, 3,650,316 3/1972 P6111 164/278 t a y FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS [22] Fled: June 1973 1,498,360 9/1967 France 164/278 21 APPL 372,372 556,277 9/1943 United Kingdom 239/587 Related Application Data Primary Examiner-R. Spencer Annear [63] Continuation-impart of Ser No. 128,792, March 29, Attorney, Agent, or FirmGuido Modiano; Albert 1971, Pat. NO. 3,800,852. J if [30] Foreign Application Priority Data [57] ABSTRACT June 28, 1972 Italy 26354/72 i g device for continuous casting machines of t 52 US. Cl. 164/278; 164/283 MT; 239/551 type havmg sung wheel pmvlded f a Penpheml 2 groove covered along an arc of its periphery by a me- [51] Int. Cl. B22D 11/06 ta Ar t if Id d th 58 Field of Search 164/87, 278, 283 MT; F W 6 o s are mange e 2395 penphery of the casting wheel and extend parallel thereto. A plurality of independently controllable nozzles are associated with the manifolds and direct their [56] Rem-em Clted cooling water jets against the metallic tape and the pe- UNITED STATES PATENTS riphery of the casting wheel. A plurality of valve 1,195,027 8/1916 Jones 239/551 X means is arranged between the manifold and the noz- 13/ E 6 3 'i fl7 zles for individually controllingthese nozzles. roperzl 3,447,755 6/1969 Cartwright 239/551 3 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures US. Patent Nov. 4, 1975 Sheet 1 of 2 LII J) 0'69 COOLING DEVICE FOR CONTINUOUS CASTING MACHINES CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This is a continuationin-part of application Serial No. 128,792 filed Mar. 29, 1971, now US. Pat. No. 3.800,852.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a cooling device for continuous casting machines.

In my Italian Pat. No. 817.1 the cooling of the casting wheel groove and of the metallic tape which covers this groove along a certain arc of the wheel is effected by means of a series of water spraying nozzles, arranged respectively at the inside of the wheel, so that the water jet produced therefrom strikes the groove from the inside of the wheel. and outside of the tape. The regula tion of the rate of flow of the cooling water and consequently of the cooling intensity is carried out by valve means arranged before the manifold to which the single nozzles are connected The regulation is consequently the same for all the nozzles i.e. both for those near the point of introduction of the metal and for those near the point of exit from the groove of the portion of the already formed rod. It is, however, necessary to have the possibility to control and regulate the temperature of the groove and of the tape at the points of the length over which they are in contact with the metal, and this is indispensable in order to be able to subject the metal to a regular cooling stage, such that the rod which is being formed is not subjected to internal tensions, which damage the structural uniformity thereof and also its mechanical characteristics. In my US. Pat. appln. Ser. No. 128,792 filed Mar. 29, 1971, now US. Pat. No. 3,800,852 a cooling device has been proposed in which independent valve means are associated to several spraying nozzles so as to allow an independent closing and opening action from nozzle to nozzle and thereby to vary the cooling intensity and the temperatures at the various points of the wheel and of the tape depending on different requirements. The location of so many valve members along the wheel groove and the arc of the tape in contact with the wheel structural a problem which, together with the one relating to the assurance of a reliable and durable functioning of every valve member for an effective and precise regulation has not been solved by said patent application.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of this invention is therefore to improve the cooling device already proposed and to provide a device which allows an exact regulation and duration of the cooling intensity for the groove and the tape of the casting wheel over the entire arc of the wheel and of the tape involved in the cooling of the metal.

Another object of the invention is to provide a cooling device applicable within a reduced space and which is controllable from the outside and such as to allow the arrangement of a very large number of contiguous nozzles and to obtain therefore at every point of the groove and of the tape the desired cooling intensity, i.e., the desired temperature with an extremely fine regulation at every point.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device of the above type which is structurally simple and applicable easily on already casting wheels.

These and other objects which will appear evident from the description which follows are attained by a cooling device for continuous casting machines comprising at least one common manifold for the cooling liquid at the inside of the casting wheel and at least one common manifold at the outside along the are of the wheel covered by the metallic tape, said manifolds being provided with cooling liquid spraying nozzles,

and characterized in that said nozzles are associated to said common manifolds, each with the interposition of a respective valve member capable to regulate the flow of cooling liquid towards the nozzle, said valve member being provided within the body of the manifold substantially transversally to the axis of said nozzles and having control members accessible from the side of the machine.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Further particulars will appear more clearly from the following detailed description of two preferred embodiments of the invention, illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. I shows a casting wheel provided with the cooling device according to the invention;

FIG. 2 shows a partial radial section of the casting wheel, in which the internal cooling device is visible,

FIG. 3 shows in an enlarged scale the section of a particular internal cooling device with the respective valve means;

FIG. 4 shows a section according to line lV-IV of FIG. I, of a cooling nozzle for the metallic tape; and FIG. 5 shows in an enlarged scale a section of a cooling nozzle for the tape according to a modified construction.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The continuous casting machine here considered has a casting wheel I, along the periphery of which a groove 2 is provided, which is covered over a determined arc portion from the outside by a metallic belt 3, which is tensioned in known manner between the casting wheel 1 and a not shown transmission pulley. The wheel 4 presses the belt, 3 towards the casting wheel I at the point in which the liquid metal is introduced into the groove 2 from the pouring 5 of the not shown casting crucible.

The cooling of the groove is carried out from the inside of the wheel I by means of a series of cooling liquid spraying nozzles 6 arranged on a first arcuate manifold 7 and directed so as to direct a water jet against the said groove. Water under pressure reaches the manifold 7 from the axial conduit 8 and one or more radial pipes 9. The manifold may extend the entire circumference of the wheel thus having an annular configuration, and is mounted stationary. The cooling of the tape is effected by means of a second series of spraying nozzles 10 arranged on a second arcuate manifold 11, which is mounted on the nonnally stationary support 12, the manifold 11 being also movable over a certain arc with respect to the latter. This manifold is fed from the pipe 13 in a per se known manner. The manometers l4 indicate the cooling liquid pressure within the manifolds.

Taking now reference in particular to Fig. 3, it is pointed out that the internal cooling of the wheel is effected by pairs of nozzles 6, removably mounted on the body of the manifold 7. Obviously, instead of a pair of nozzles, a respective single nozzle may be provided. The nozzles 6 of known type, are connected with a dis tributing internal conduit 16, which may be put in communication with the manifold 7 proper through the valve means which are arranged between the manifold 7 and the nozzles 6 and are preferably needle valves. Each valve 17 has a valve closing member 18, which is movable within a valve seat 19, extending in the wall of the manifold 7 transverse to the axis defined by said nozzles, i.e., parallel to the axis of the wheel 1. A gasket 20 provides the sealing between the body 18 and the seat 19. The body 18 is rigid with a threaded stem 21 screwed into a threaded flange 22 fixed on the body 15 of the manifold 7. One end of the threaded stem extends outside the body of the manifold 7 and thereon a setting-up handwheel or turn knob 23 is mounted with friction engagement. The aforesaid end has further a slit 24 into which a suitable implement is inserted, for instance a screw-driver, for the rotation of the stem 21, and therefore the axial displacing of the closing valve member 18. The member 18 has a frusto-conical end capable to engage with the opening defined by the passage portion 25 which extends substantially parallel to the axis of the casting wheel and is permanently connected with the manifold 7, through the passage 26. The slit 24 and the handwheel 23 define a control member accessible from the side of the casting wheel for operating the valve means 17.

It has been proved that such an arrangement of the passages and the valve member allows to exploit in the best possible manner the space available at the inside of the casting wheel 1 and it allows the location of a very great number of contiguous valve means 17 along the entire circumference of the wheel 1. In practice these valve means are arranged with a spacing of about 4 cm which means that the nozzles 6 are arranged at almost the same distance from each other and consequently a possibility is provided to regulate the cooling in a very fine manner along the arc of the wheel.

The grooved head 24 is accessible from the outside.

The regulation is carried out after the valve member has been preset by closing it completely by means of the not shown screw driver and setting the handwheel 23 (it is mounted by friction engagement) in a preestablished angular position. The stem 21 is then rotated through a pre-established number of turns, by acting with a screw-driver into the slit 24, such number of turns being indicated by the handwheel and corresponding to a determined degree of aperture of the valve member 18. It is possible to provide a diagram indicating the correspondence between the rate of flow of the cooling liquid and the turn numbers of the stem 21. The cooling intensity may therefore be exactly set for each nozzle or pair of nozzles 6 thereby obtaining a determined temperature curve along the whole inside of the groove 2 of the wheel 1, depending on the working requirements and the worked metal. The regulation which may be obtained is very fine. Owing to the simplicity of the conduits provided at the inside of the body of the collector 7 also the constructional aspect of the latter is not appreciably complicated.

In the section of FIG. 4 the valve means 17 is formed in a manner very similar to that previously described.

For the illustration of the internal conduits between the manifold 11 and the nozzles 10 FIG. 5 may also be suitable. The closing valve member 18 of the valve means 17 opens and closes the opening 29, which directly communicates with the manifold 11, and thereby the communication with the passage 30 is provided, such passage corresponding to the conduit 16. It will be understood that also for the cooling of the tape pairs of nozzles 10 may be used, the regulating complex being thus analogous to that shown in FIG. 3. In FIG. 5 however a modified valve member has been shown, as far as the control thereof is concerned. Here the handwheel 23 is lacking, but the slit in the outer head of the stem 21 is maintained. This second embodiment is more compact than the first shown in FIG. 3 and has no parts projecting from the outer surface of the lateral wall of the manifold. This is particularly advantageous for the external cooling manifold owing to the fact that possible leakages of the liquid metal from the groove 2 through the closing point of the tape 3 cannot block or damage or make useless the cooling device since such leakages are not retained by projecting parts of the manifold. It will be obvious that such a configuration of the valve means may be used also for the valve means 17 for the inner cooling.

The cooling device of this invention makes it possible above all to arrange the nozzles very close to each other, even if all of them are singularly adjustable. This fact is very important if one considers that, with an arrangement of nozzles rather distant from each other, on the groove and on the tape, zones are formed at which there is an intense cooling by the direct cooling action of the jet of the nozzles and successive zones are obtained interposed between the previous ones, at which the cooling is very low, since they are instantaneously not directly reached by fresh water, but only by already warm water of the previous nozzle, which is not effective any more for a good cooling. This disuniformity is dangerous for the formation of the ingot rod.

With such a close arrangement of the nozzles there is obtained not only a more efficient cooling but also a effectively adjustable cooling from point to point.

The invention may be subjected to modifications and variants within its scope.

Thus for example it is possible to provide a series of nozzles also at the sides of the casting wheel in order to cool laterally the groove from the outside, said nozzles being provided with the cooling device described for the cooling nozzles for the tape and/or the inside of the wheel.

I Claim:

1. A cooling device for continuous casting machines of the type including a rotatable casting wheel having a peripheral groove and a metallic belt covering said groove along an arc portion thereof, comprising a substantially arcuate manifold for a cooling liquid arranged proximate to said casting wheel, means for supplying a cooling liquid to said manifold, a plurality of cooling liquid spraying nozzles supported by said manifold for cooling said casting wheel, passages in a wall of said manifold providing communication between said manifold and said nozzles, and valve means for controlling the flow of cooling liquid supplied to said nozzles, wherein said valve means are each arranged between said manifold and said nozzles and comprise needle valves each having a valve seat in said wall of said manifold extending substantially transverse to said nozzles and substantially parallel to the axis of the casting wheel and communicating with a corresponding one of said passages, and a valve member within said seat for individually controlling the flow of cooling liquid 6 ting said valve member and indicating the degree of rotation of said valve member corresponding to the relevant control position of said valve member.

3. A cooling device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said valve means each include a valve stem having an outer head and a control means arranged thereon substantially aligned with the outer wall surface of said manifold so as not to project therefrom. 

1. A cooling device for continuous casting machines of the type including a rotatable casting wheel having a peripheral groove and a metallic belt covering said groove along an arc portion thereof, comprising a substantially arcuate manifold for a cooling liquid arranged proximate to said casting wheel, means for supplying a cooling liquid to said manifold, a plurality of cooling liquid spraying nozzles supported by said manifold for cooling said casting wheel, passages in a wall of said manifold providing communication between said manifold and said nozzles, and valve means for controlling the flow of cooling liquid supplied to said nozzles, wherein said valve means are each arranged between said manifold and said nozzles and comprise needle valves each having a valve seat in said wall of said manifold extending substantially transverse to said nozzles and substantially parallel to the axis of the casting wheel and communicating with a corresponding one of said passages, and a valve member within said seat for individually controlling the flow of cooling liquid through said passages, each of said valve means further comprising a control means accessible from the side of the casting wheel and each of said passages including a portion extending substantially parallel to said casting wheel and having an opening aligned with said seat, said valve members being movable to control said opening.
 2. A cooling device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said valve means further comprise a turn knob mounted by friction on said valve member for presetting said valve member and indicating the degree of rotation of said valve member corresponding to the relevant control position of said valve member.
 3. A cooling device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said valve means each include a valve stem having an outer head and a control means arranged thereon substantially aligned with the outer wall surface of said manifold so as not to project therefrom. 